Two major local educational initiatives, both designed to provide young people with skills for high-demand jobs, were among the top news stories in Wilkes County in 2014.
One of the two is establishing a Wilkes Community College health sciences education center in a 58,000-square-foot former Northwestern Bank building on Oakwoods Road in Wilkesboro.
The WCC Endowment Corp. bought the building this summer and it’s now undergoing renovations, with completion scheduled in late May 2015. The Golden LEAF Foundation awarded $1.25 million to WCC for this work. WCC officials say the program and new facility will help equip people with skills in demand by health care employers throughout the region and also help free up much needed classroom space at WCC’s existing campus in Wilkesboro.
The other effort, Project ADMIT (Advancing Development in Manufacturing and Integrated Technology), would help prepare Wilkes high school students for careers in applied engineering technology and computer technology integration.
It includes constructing one metal building apiece at Wilkes Central, West Wilkes and North Wilkes high schools and adding high tech instructional equipment at these three high schools and East Wilkes High. Officials said East already has the space it needs. The Wilkes schools’ application for $1.2 million from Golden LEAF for Project ADMIT is among 23 proposals in the running for a total of $12 million. Matching local funds would also go toward the $1.7 million needed for Project ADMIT.
New water source
Efforts to establish W. Kerr Scott Reservoir as the primary public water source in Wilkes continued in 2014, with the Wilkes County and North Wilkesboro commissioners agreeing late in the year to advertise for bids for construction of different portions of the project. Construction is expected to start in the first half of 2015 and take 18 months to complete.
County government is advertising for bids to construct a raw water intake with a pump station on W. Kerr Scott Reservoir, electrical building and waterline to N.C. 268 West, estimated to cost $7 to $8 million. The raw water intake and pump station will be built on the shore of a reservoir cove just south of the boat ramp behind the Reservoir Visitor Center and the electrical building will be constructed nearby along Reservoir Road.
Under an agreement between governments of the county, Wilkesboro and North Wilkesboro, the towns will reimburse the county as the county pays off an interest free loan of up to $8.3 million from a state revolving loan fund for the raw water intake and water line to N.C. 268 West and electrical building.
North Wilkesboro is advertising for bids for installing waterlines costing about $10 million that will take untreated water from the reservoir to the Wilkesboro and North Wilkesboro water treatment plants. The two towns will pay back a loan of up to $12 million made to North Wilkesboro from the revolving loan fund for installing the waterlines.
Based on current production, Wilkesboro is responsible for 65 percent and North Wilkesboro is responsible for 35 percent of the combined loan repayment. The two towns also agreed to reimburse the county $176,602 paid as a loan fee.
Under a 30-year agreement approved by governments of the county, Wilkesboro and North Wilkesboro in 2012, the county is sharing its rights to water stored in the reservoir between elevations of 1,000 and 1,030 feet above sea level with the two towns and the towns can withdraw up to 24 million gallons of water per day through the raw water intake. The City of Winston-Salem, also with rights to water from the reservoir, endorsed the project through an agreement with the county.
New jail opens
A new 58,000-square-foot Wilkes County Detention Center next to the Wilkes County Courthouse opened the third week in December with 114 inmates after female inmates from the Women’s Detention Center in North Wilkesboro and the Alexander County Detention Center in Taylorsville and male inmates from the Men’s Detention Center (old county jail) in Wilkesboro and the Ashe County Detention Center in Jefferson were moved there. Some Wilkes inmates were housed out of county due to lack of space here. The new jail has capacity for about 260 inmates.
The $12.6 million jail, designed for additions to increase capacity, has four types of housing in eight adjoining blocks. One is open dormitory with double bunk beds and no walls between or in front of beds. There also are more traditional cells, each with a toilet, sink and double bunk bed. The third is isolation “lockdown” cells for one inmate per cell. The fourth is padded cells with walls and floors made of block masonry covered with a rubber-like material. There are no beds or fixtures, but inmates get sleeping bags. There are doors that lock but no cell bars in the new jail.
County officials said there are no definite plans for the two jail facilities in Wilkes, vacated earlier this month.
Other new facilities
The Wilkes Sheriff’s Office started moving into a newly-renovated, 36,000-square-foot former Northwestern Bank data center building off Oakwoods Road in Wilkesboro, in September. It previously occupied about 8,000 square feet of a county-owned building on Curtis Bridge Road in Wilkesboro. The county commissioners bought the building in 2013.
Approval of a bid for renovating a nearby former Northwestern Bank building for use as the County Ag Center, with offices for federal, state and local agricultural agencies mostly now in the Johnson J. Hayes Federal Building, is on the agenda of the Aug. 6 county commissioners meeting.
In February, the county commissioners approved spending $1.1 million on renovating the building for the sheriff’s office, plus $1.2 million to help fund facility improvements at Moravian Falls Elementary School.
In mid-November, the county commissioners approved a $704,779 bid from Jimmy R. Lynch Sons in Pilot Mountain to extend Courthouse Drive by about two-tenths of a mile to provide a more direct connection from the Wilkes Sheriff’s Office building, County Ag Center and other parts of the former Northwestern Bank property to the courthouse and jail. Grading hasn’t started yet. County government budgeted $390,000 and the N.C. Department of Transportation agreed to fund the remaining portion.
A third nearby former Northwestern Bank building is being renovated for use as the WCC Health Sciences Center. A fourth former Northwestern Bank building was bought by local investors, who made portions of it available for lease.
By the end of the year, construction on a new brick classroom building for third through fifth grades at Moravian Falls Elementary School was on track for completion by late July 2015 as scheduled. The building is part of a final phase of construction that includes enlarging the cafeteria, upgrading the gym and renovating old office building classrooms into a new media and learning center. Total cost is $2.88 million.
Wilkes DSS
The Wilkes Department of Social Services was often in the news in 2014, starting in March when an N.C. Department of Health and Human Services team spent several days reviewing Wilkes DSS child protective services cases. This came after officials learned in February that two children taken from their Wilkes home by Wilkes DSS after their father was convicted of sex offenses were sexually abused again in a Yadkin County home they were placed in by Wilkes DSS.
A state’s report after the review cited deficiencies in handling Wilkes DSS child protective services cases, including failure to resolve many assessments in a reasonable time in 2013. These determine if child abuse and neglect reports are founded or not. Deficiencies were attributed to lack of documentation and timely assessment of cases, lack of supervision of social workers and lack of staff.
Local officials carried out steps recommended in the report, including filling vacant or creating new positions. They’re now considering buying software and mobile digital devices to enhance efficiency of child protective services social workers.
Last spring, the county commissioners discussed becoming the governing board for Wilkes DSS but ultimately decided against doing so.
Eddie Settle, elected new chairman of the county commissioners at their Dec. 1 meeting, cited Wilkes DSS’s unusually large number of child protective services cases when he called for creating a task force on the county’s drug problems during the Dec. 16 meeting. Also in the Dec. 16 meeting, commissioners approved allocating $150,000 more in state and county funds (half from each) than was budgeted for foster care and $117,165 more in federal funds for foster care.
Changes in key positions
After Bill Sebastian announced that he would retire as Wilkes DSS director on Sept. 30, 11 people applied for the position and only five were determined qualified. John Blevins, in his eighth year as Alleghany County DSS director, was hired as Wilkes DSS director in late November after the job was advertised for over four months. The Ashe County native starts Jan. 1, as Wilkes DSS director with an annual salary of $85,000.
The Wilkes Community College Board of Trustees voted to hire Dr. Jeffrey Cox, an Alleghany County native, as WCC’s new president in early April. Cox had been Alleghany County school superintendent about nine years when he started as WCC president in July. He followed Dr. Gordon Burns, who retired after serving as president 18 years. Cox was hired with a $190,000 annual salary, which includes insurance and housing.
County Manager John Yates on Nov. 21 announced the hiring of Eric R. Morrison, Mecklenburg County Emergency Medical Services professional development director, as Wilkes EMS director. Morrison will become director after Gregg Hendren retires Jan. 31. Morrison started working at Wilkes EMS Dec. 12, to give him time with Hendren, director for the last 16 years.
On Sept. 10, the Wilkes County Library Board voted to hire Julia Turpin of Campbellsville, Ky., as the new county librarian. Mrs. Turpin started in the new position in early October. She replaced Jennifer Murray, who resigned and left on Aug. 5 to become director of a library in Vermont.
Jeff Garstka resigned as Wilkes EDC director in late January and was replaced by Dan Little, former director of the WCC Small Business Center and a former banker.
Dr. Wanda Hutchinson retired as Wilkes school associate superintendent in August after 35 years with the Wilkes schools, beginning as a school bus driver.
North Wilkesboro Fire Chief Niki Hamby retired in April, and Jimmy Martin was named the new fire chief Oct. 10, after serving as interim fire chief for six months. Hamby, 58, had been a member of the department since he was 21, and the chief for the past 11 years
Janet Pearson resigned as superintendent of Stone Mountain State Park, effective Dec. 30. No reason was given. A new superintendent hasn’t yet been named.
Elections on Nov. 4
Republicans easily won contested races for Wilkes County commissioner and state legislative districts that include Wilkes on Nov. 4. Just shy of 45 percent of the registered voters (18,767) in Wilkes cast ballots in the election, compared to 47.3 percent in the last midterm election in 2010.
Incumbent David Gambill of the Mulberry community and Greg Minton of Millers Creek won four-year terms as county commissioners. Shirley Randleman of Wilkesboro reclaimed the Senate District 30 seat and Sarah Stevens of Mount Airy was re-elected House District 90 representative.
Robert J. “Rob” Crumpton of Millers Creek defeated Donna Shumate of Sparta in a close race for one of three open District Court judge seats in the 23rd Judicial District. Crumpton was elected to the seat held by Judge Michael D. Duncan of Wilkesboro, whose term ended this year. Duncan was elected resident Superior Court judge for the 23rd Judicial District in an uncontested race. Edgar Gregory of Wilkesboro was resident Superior Court judge but didn’t seek re-election. William “Bill” Brooks of North Wilkesboro and David V. Byrd of Wilkesboro won the other two open District Court judge seats in uncontested races.
Local incumbents re-elected without opposition included Chris Shew as sheriff, Tom Horner as district attorney, Janet Handy as Wilkes clerk of Superior Court and Jeffery Elmore as N.C. House District 94 representative. Lee Zachary of Yadkinville was elected to his first term as N.C. House District 73 representative without opposition.
A constitutional amendment allowing defendants in non-capital Superior Court cases to opt for a judge’s decision instead of a jury trial was approved by a statewide vote of 1,397,808 for and 1,234,295 against. The vote in Wilkes was 8,866 for and 7,585 against.
Wilkes EDC efforts
The Wilkes Economic Development Corp. (EDC), jointly funded by town and county governments and the Wilkes Chamber of Commerce, continued to work to bring more jobs and investments in Wilkes in 2014.
This included working with the Wilkes schools and WCC on Project ADMIT.
In connection with economic investment agreements involving the EDC and different local and sometimes state governments, Wilkesboro-based InterFlex Group invested $10.2 million in a new manufacturing facility on N.C. 268 West in 2014 (which was completed) and agreed to add 63 jobs; Gardner Glass Products is expanding its existing plant and infrastructure updates on N.C. 268 East in North Wilkesboro with creation of 24 new jobs and PSG Custom Fabrications bought the former Key City Furniture plant on N.C. 268 West in Wilkesboro and created 38 new jobs.
EDC, Wilkes County and North Wilkesboro officials were engaged in discussions with a manufacturing company from outside Wilkes interested in moving into an existing facility in Wilkes. Discussions focused on incentive funding for the company. No deals have been reached yet, but local officials said the discussions again raised the issue about the lack of available, large manufacturing facilities in Wilkes.
The Golden LEAF Foundation awarded $45,000 to the EDC for a program in which semen from bulls with superior genetics is bought for artificial insemination in Wilkes cattle to improve herd quality. Part of the money also was used to buy a portable corral able to hold cattle, portable head gate for holding cattle in place and portable scales for weighing cattle to gauge results.
The EDC continued its revolving loan fund program, making small loans to small companies that otherwise might not quality for financing. Recipients pay the loans back with competitive interest rates. The EDC also worked with North Wilkesboro officials on creating virtual office sites in downtown North Wilkesboro, with assistance from a STEP grant.
Other economic news
Franklin Graham, founder and president of Boone-based Samaritan’s Purse, mentioned expansion plans in Wilkes when he spoke Oct. 28, at the dedication of the Samaritan’s Purse Mission Aviation Services Hangar at the Wilkes County Airport. “We will begin to move some of our departments down here so as they grow we’ve got room to grow. We’ve run out of room in Boone so this is where we’re going to expand,” said Graham.
On Nov. 14, Samaritan’s Purse board member Sterling Carroll of Boone deeded 136 acres just outside Wilkesboro near Edgewood Road to the ministry as a donation. “Decisions regarding the specific use of this property have not yet been made, but as the ministry grows, the plans are for growth to be located in Wilkes County,” said ministry spokesman Melissa Strickland. She said more details about plans in Wilkes would be announced early in 2015.
Samaritan’s Purse bought 21 vacant acres along N.C. 268 East in North Wilkesboro from Lowe’s Companies Inc. in February. The North American Disaster Relief operations of Samaritan’s Purse are based nearby in a former Coca-Cola bottling plant building.
A 120,000-square-foot former American Drew chair plant on N.C. 268 East in North Wilkesboro was bought for Carolina Heritage Cabinetry in North Wilkesboro in October. Carolina Heritage owner Scott Nafe bought the plant and said the company’s wooden cabinet manufacturing operations at two other local locations would be moved there. Nafe started the company three years ago with eight employees. It now has nearly 80.
He said the company’s showroom and gallery would remain in the Mirror Factory Industrial Center, a former Carolina Mirror building owned and renovated by Naffe.
Also in 2014, Nafe bought and renovated a former Key City furniture plant on Main Street, North Wilkesboro, and established an antique mall for individual shops there selling on consignment.
While noting that sales picked up the later part of this year, local Realtors said the real estate business overall in 2014 was similar to business the prior year in Wilkes County. Realtors said sales of distressed residential and other properties, including properties in bankruptcy, kept overall and average sales prices artificially low both years.
WRMC
On Dec. 22, the Wilkes Regional Medical Center Board of Directors held a closed session meeting for discussion of contractual matters that other local officials said involved management of the hospital and related matters. Hospital officials haven’t released details, but other local officials said details would likely be released early in 2015.
WRMC is owned by the Town of North Wilkesboro but is managed by Charotte-based Carolinas Healthcare Systems under an agreement with the town.
WRMC recruited eight new providers this year, including three mid-level providers and five physicians. The five physicians included two OB-GYNs, one pediatric hospitalist, one orthopedic surgeon and one internist.
In March, U.S. News and World Report named WRMC’s Skilled Nursing Facility to its “2014 Best Nursing Home” list. The nursing facility was recognized for receiving five stars in all four areas: overall rating, health inspections, nurse staff and quality measures.
The hospital received an “A” rating from the Leapfrog Group, a healthcare consumer education organization, in the spring and fall of 2014. WRMC also received an “A” rating fall 2013, making it the only hospital in the region to receive the top grade for two consecutive years.
Construction on WRMC’s Rock Creek Family Medicine and Urgent Care began in August, with completion expected by the end of January. West Wilkes Family Medicine (formerly West Wilkes Medical Center) opened on Sept. 22 in the Mount Pleasant community with two providers.
Joint town efforts
In the first of several joint efforts this year between Wilkesboro and North Wilkesboro, in January, the two towns partnered in applying for a Wilkesboro Tourism Development Authority grant to buy a portable dance floor, which was used throughout the year at events like Wilkesboro’s “Third Friday” and North Wilkesboro’s Concerts on the Deck.
Two joint meetings were held between the towns in 2014. On Sept. 18, the governing bodies and staff Wilkesboro and North Wilkesboro met at Oakwoods Country Club to discuss current and future collaboration. They reviewed a 33-page fire department study report prepared by Solutions for Local Government, funded by the two towns. An N.C. School of Government officials was hired as a facilitator. On Dec. 3, the governing bodies met again at the Wilkesboro Civic Center for their second meeting. The conversation was focused on how joint planning between the two towns could promote economic development.
Since the September meeting, the Wilkesboro and North Wilkesboro fire departments have been working together to establish an automatic mutual aid agreement that would result in both fire departments being automatically dispatched to working structure fires in either fire district. They would also perform joint department trainings under the agreement. The mutual aid agreement was recommended by Solutions for Local Government in its fire study report. Spokesman for the departments say they have cooperated similarly on the past in responding to fires, but less formally.
North Wilkesboro
North Wilkesboro continued efforts to establish the Yadkin Valley Marketplace, a farmers market and performance area, on downtown parking deck in 2014. The Yadkin Valley Marketplace would relocate and expand the Wilkes County Farmers Market from its current site at Smoot Park. The town received planning assistance from the Renaissance Planning Group, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency contractor, as a result of being named one of the five “Livable Communities in Appalachia” for 2014.
Beginning Sept. 13, hunters could for the first time bow hunt deer within North Wilkesboro town limits, with a valid hunting license and consent of the property owner. Town commissioners voted for the new policy at their March 4 meeting in response to citizen complaints about problems with deer.
The Appalachian State University Cycling Team organized the first Road Race Weekend in North Wilkesboro, held March 22-23. About 180 bikers from 12 college and university cycling teams raced at Windy Gap Road, the Wilkes-Yadkin Road and in downtown North Wilkesboro. Cyclists came from as far away as the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
The North Wilkesboro commissioners in April agreed to sell the town’s 5.19-acre tract in the Block 46 parcel along the Central Business District Loop to Rose Glen Assisted Living, LLC, for $425,000. Rose Glen officials plan to build a 60-unit facility on the property.
Also in April, the town partnered with the Wilkes County Cruisers to install a speaker system in downtown North Wilkesboro, with speakers placed on C Street, Ninth Street and Main Street.
Window World Concerts on the Deck began in May, bringing a variety of musical groups to Wilkes. Crystal Keener, tourism director, said the town partnered with Wilkesboro to coordinate the concerts on the deck to occur on the same weekends as Wilkesboro’s open-air market.
North Wilkesboro completed construction on a new public services building on Flint Hill Road in the spring.
The first-ever North Wilkesboro Hare Scramble was held at Industrial Park on River Road Aug 17. More than 500 bikers competed in five different cross-country motorcycle races. The event is scheduled to return in 2015.
The Downtown North Wilkesboro Partnership’s tenth annual Shine to Wine Festival was held for the first time on the parking deck below Main Street in North Wilkesboro Sept. 20. Some 4,500 attended the event, which featured beer, wine and spirits from across the state.
Wilkesboro
Cub Creek Park had several improvements, including a half-mile walking track extension completed in May. Paving, striping and fencing on new tennis, basketball and pickleball courts was completed in November. Construction on a concession/restroom facility will begin soon, and should be completed by February 2015.
The town council voted in June to limit parking to two hours on Main Street from Woodland Boulevard to East Street. Implementation for the ordinance began Nov. 17.
The town began processing mulch and compost in July following a split-council vote in favor of the proposal. Councilman Russ Ferree expressed concern about the government competing with private enterprise by selling mulch and voted against the plan. In August, the council voted to operate the wood waste recycling operation, but not to sell any mulch or compost until at least July 1, 2015.
In July, the Wilkesboro Police Department was reaccredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc.
A new 48-unit reduced rent apartment complex called Covington Way opened in September on Winkler Mill Road. The developer of the complex, Wynnefield Properties, will be building an adjacent 64-unit complex called Mountain View in Spring 2015.
Also in September, the town hired Christina Walsh as a second planner.
Work began in October on the Rolling Pines disc golf course on the town’s wastewater treatment plant property. Members of the Wilkes County Disc Golf Club volunteered time and labor to construct the course, which should be ready for players by mid-March 2015.
Wilkesboro’s first-ever tree lighting ceremony was held Dec. 4 on the front lawn of the Wilkes Heritage Museum.
Ronda
The death of Ronda Town Administrator Lahoma O’Lague in March created challenges for management of the town, with realization that some tax and water records were hard to access. Ron Niland, a Mount Airy consultant, was hired by the town in April for $3,000 a month to assist. The company also provided a temporary administrative assistant.
In September, Melissa Pruitt was named new town clerk. Commissioner Sam Foster recused himself from voting because Mrs. Pruitt is his daughter.
To cut expenses, the town asked county government to collect Ronda property taxes. This was approved by county commissioners in June.
Ronda Mayor Victor Varela and his wife won a lawsuit against Ronda Commissioner Kevin Reece on June 11 and were awarded $25,000 in compensatory damages. Reece was found liable for invasion of privacy and civil conspiracy by a local jury in Wilkes Superior Court. The suit revolved around a video taken secretly in the Varelas’ home, showing Mrs. Varela smoking marijuana taken in November 2012.
The jury’s action occurred the same week Commissioners Rheajean Benge, Goldman and Reece voted to cut Varela’s pay of $175 a month to $75. His discretionary spending was decreased from $500 to $100.
A petition to recall Ms. Goldman and Reece was started in early July, based on dissatisfaction with Reece and Ms. Goldman voting to cut Varela’s pay and conflict of interest situations with town businesses. In mid–July Reece and Ms. Goldman resigned. Manuel Wood, a former commissioner, and Helen Porter, were named to the board in October.
In August, Reece pleaded guilty to felony possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and common law blackmail against Varela. Reece was placed on supervised probation for 30 months, ordered to pay a $200 fine, perform 100 hours of community service and have no further contact with Varela. commissioners disallowed the reduction of Varela’s pay and an increase in privilege licenses in August.
Earlier in 2014, commissioners approved an urban archery deer season for Ronda starting in 2015. Season dates are Jan. 11 to Feb. 15.
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